The instant invention relates generally to egg collecting systems, and more specifically, to an egg collecting system for collecting eggs from associated tiered rows of confinement cages for poultry and having the capability of delivering the eggs from multiple levels to a single common egg delivery or transfer conveyor.
Large confinement systems for improving the efficiency of egg producing operations have been known in the prior art for many years. Most of the confinement systems employ cages arrayed side-by-side in cage rows. This configuration facilitates the use of a conveyor belt or other conveying structure extended along the side of each cage row to receive eggs from the individual cages for delivery toward one end of the row. As long as the cage rows are all on relatively the same horizontal plane, no significant problem is presented in terms of safely collecting the eggs delivered to the ends of the cage rows on a single conveyor or transfer system capable of receiving eggs from the several row conveyors in generally the same plane as the transfer conveyor.
A very different problem is posed, however, when the confinement cage rows are vertically tiered in association with row conveyors for delivering eggs to the ends of the rows at different vertical heights. Several developments have attempted to solve this problem through use of a wide variety of vertically oriented egg transporting mechanisms. For example, egg carrying elevators have been used in Walters U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,485, and cupped fingers in Martin U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,696. Other types of cup arrangements are used for generally vertical movement of eggs in Conley, U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,802 and in Glesbert, U.S. Pat. No. 3,626,905. A major problem common to all of the cited systems is their extreme mechanical complexity as well as the associated cost of manufacture and operation of such systems.
All of the cited references show some special attention to the problem of delivery of the egg from a row conveyor to the elevators, fingers, or cups, which are used to vertically transport the egg. In addition, still further difficulty is encountered in unloading or releasing the egg from the vertical conveying cups or fingers. Yet another problem is to deal with a continuous flow of eggs from each row conveyor in a manner in which the vertical transporting system is not overwhelmed by the upper cage-row conveyors to the exclusion of eggs delivered along the lower cage-row conveyors.
Still other systems have employed complex controls and variable speed drive motors for starting and stopping row conveyors together with devices for collecting eggs from a row conveyor during a pre-established period of time. Such a system is advertised by Cycle Systems, Inc. of Le Sueur, Minn.
The present invention solves the problems posed by the cited prior art systems through use of a single horizontal vertically movable main conveyor for selectively receiving eggs from each vertical level of row conveyors. The main conveyor carries a drive motor and associated drive system which causes the respective row conveyors to deliver eggs to the main conveyor only during the time when the main conveyor is in the proper vertical position to receive eggs from the driven conveyors.